It is widely acknowledged that the level and nature of physical activity experienced by individuals in and out of the workplace is changing. In particular, the rapid expansion of knowledge work and automation in the workplace has resulted in changes in the physical and physiological demands of many jobs. In like fashion, leisure activities and avocations increasingly involve, for example, operating the user interface of a computer or other equipment. While it is widely understood that these changes in the nature of a portion of such human activities have an affect on physiology and health, understanding remains, in some ways, rudimentary. Consequently, despite vigorous efforts by skilled practitioners to improve worker support technology, including seating technology, significant limitations of that technology remain.
One type of conventional chair includes a seat, a backrest, a base, and armrests. An occupant of the conventional chair sits on an upper surface of the seat. The seat is supported by the base. The occupant typically rests his or her back against the backrest.
The backrest is typically utilized to provide back support to the occupant of a chair. The backrest allows the occupant of the chair to rest his or her back against the backrest, thereby alleviating excess strain.
With some conventional chairs, a user is able to modify the horizontal position of the backrest by adjusting a knob or another similar controller.
With other conventional chairs, the chair has a reclining (i.e., tilting) backrest that is configured to tilt back when an occupant leans against the backrest and to tilt forward to an upright position when an occupant leans forward.